Narcisse

What are the links between perception of the body and identity? At what point do we stop recognising our altered image?

Date

2018

Medium

Depth sensor, computer, projector, screen, steel

Software

Three.js, WebGL

Author

Béatrice Lartigue, Lab212

Development

Sébastien Courvoisier

Synopsis

Identity is “the nature of that which, combining various names or features, forms a unique whole or represents a unique, single reality,” it corresponds to the principle whereby “a thing cannot be both itself and its opposite” (online version of Le Trésor de la Langue Française French dictionary).

Commissioned by

Museum Histoire Naturelle x Quai des Savoirs, Toulouse, FRA

Curated by

Maja Wasyluk

Download this artwork's PDF file

The visitor arrives and comes face to face with himself, his double. Although it is less detailed and realistic, his double looks exactly like him. The visitor recognises himself in this reflection.

However, when he looks more closely, he discovers something strange. Composed of multitudes of particles, his body is animated by invisible forces.

He starts to feel surprised by his own appearance. His silhouette vibrates, swells up and becomes distorted.

As he moves around, his metamorphosis speeds up. His outer casing, his body, is consumed by tingling sensations that now seem to come from all sides.

He is now no longer fully himself, but he’s not yet someone else, either.